I called my local congressman's officer a couple days ago and they said I need to write a letter requesting a nomination packet. So what should i include in that letter? Can i request a nomination to more than one service academy in the same letter? I am mainly interested in a nomination to AFA.
thanks
BTW, i know this is not the right section for this but I always get the best answers in the ROTC forums, haha
First off - asking about a nomination-related question might not be such a good idea to post on the ROTC section....simply because students pursuing the ROTC path don't require a nomination.
Second - why do you think the staffer asks for a letter? Why not just just send out the congressman's packet of application forms and letters? There's really two reasons for that.
There's the common problem of young teens calling up saying that they want to apply for a nomination just on a whim. Typically such young person is thinking, "Hey, going to USAFA sounds like a great idea - why not go for it?". Senators/Congressional representatives in heavily populated states/districts will get well over a thousand young people who are serious about getting a nomination. Requiring a letter is one way of eliminating all the paperwork involved with those who are not really serious.
Also, congressional staffers get a lot of calls from parents wanting to know what a son or daughter has to do to get a nomination. And from the staffers' comments about such calls, the parents might as well be waving a red warning flag in front of the staffer's face. When a parent calls, the immediate question in mind of the staffer is, "I wonder if this is a parent who is pushing a kid into applying for an academy?" One way to make an end run around an overzealous parent is to require a letter from the candidate. If the candidate is poorly motivated, he or she can procrastinate writing a letter and in this way thwart the parental pressure.
The reason I'm bringing this up is because the answer to the two questions you asked can be
very easily looked up on Google; no more than a few clicks away. Why not just pursue and consult the primary source in a few minutes (Congressional representative websites, academyadmissions.com etc.) rather than asking a stranger on the internet?
Just a thought.
*Note: Last year I bought the
Air Force Academy Candidate Book which virtually covers every aspect of the admission process to get into USAFA, including the nomination process like above, and found it to be very useful.
